


With Bells On

by T Verano (t_verano)



Category: The Sentinel (TV)
Genre: 2012 Secret Santa Drabble Days prompt "elves", Christmas fic, M/M, Santa's Elves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-07
Updated: 2012-12-07
Packaged: 2020-04-05 02:35:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19039435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/t_verano/pseuds/T%20Verano
Summary: Santa's Elves at Cascade Mall: it's a walk down memory lane for Blair, while Jim heads off in another direction entirely.





	With Bells On

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2012 TS Secret Santa Drabble Days prompt of "elves"

"I had a gig as one of Santa's elves once," Blair said. Out loud, which he hadn't intended to do at all, but sitting on a poinsettia-flanked bench with Jim, eating eggnog-flavored frozen yogurt, and watching Cascade Mall's Jolly Christmas Elves wrangle the line of kids waiting to see Santa had apparently loosened his tongue.

PTSD. It had to be.

Blair didn't look at Jim, but he could _feel_ Jim's expression, and he punched Jim lightly — sort of lightly — in the arm. "Don't even start, Jim. It's a crappy job." He gazed at the visible (all too visible) portion of the mall's Elf Crew and winced in sympathy.

"I mean, there's the costume," he said. "Pretty emasculating for the guy elves, at least by the standards of this culture. And the kids waiting in line — the kids are great, but half of them don't want to be there, and half of the adults waiting in line don't want to be there either, and it's not enough that the kid gets his photo taken sitting in Santa's lap; the boss people want you to push extra photos with the reindeer or with Mrs. Claus so they can make more bucks, and things get unbelievably hairy. It's like a battle zone, man. The kids are armed with candy canes and extreme tantrum-throwing skills, and the parents get _feral,_ freaking out about present-buying and money and whether their kid's going to behave in Santa's lap so the photo for their family Christmas card is cute enough. The elves are stuck on the front line, completely unarmed and wearing tights and pointy-toed shoes that jingle when they walk."

"Tights. Pointy-toed shoes." The smirk in Jim's voice was crystal clear, as was his complete lack of compassion for the challenges of Elfing.

As was, also, exactly what was going on inside his head at the moment.

"Stop picturing me wearing an elf costume."

"I don't think I can, Chief." Jim coughed. It was a smirky-sounding cough. "But I would've thought you, of all people, would've been more open to the, uh, 'elf experience'. You like kids. You can make a complete idiot out of yourself without any sign of embarrassment —"

"I can also take back your Christmas present."

Jim scratched the side of his jaw. "I might have a suggestion for something you could get me instead." He should've looked at least a _little_ ashamed of himself, saying that, but of course he didn't.

"No way," Blair said. "Forget about it, man. It's not going to happen."

But it was, Blair knew. Gloomily, he started a mental list. Green dye for his white long johns. The red-and-green vest he'd gotten in Finland six years ago, with the reindeer embroidered on it. Pointy-toed shoes and an elf cap…he'd have to work on those.

Mockery was going to be involved. Blair sighed. _Way_ too much mockery, and… Well, okay, potentially weirdly hot sex.

Huh.

Soooo, green tights and pointy-toed shoes it was.

With bells on.


End file.
